Legalization/Regularization

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Legalization/Regularization

Millions of unauthorized immigrants have been given legal status in Europe and the United States since the mid-1980s through programs and mechanisms variously referred to as legalization or regularization. The policy tool has been used variously to address rising numbers of unauthorized immigrants, regulate underground labor markets, or for humanitarian purposes. Viewed by critics as a spur for more illegal migration, such policies are touted as a humanitarian means of addressing the status of workers and residents living in limbo and of regulating the informal labor market.

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Recent Activity

Slightly more than 2.1 million unauthorized immigrant youth and young adults could be eligible to apply for legal status under the 2010 DREAM Act, though historical trends indicate that perhaps fewer than 40 percent would obtain legal status because of a variety of limitations. This policy brief offers detailed estimates of potential DREAM Act beneficiaries.

Public Policy Institute of California researchers Magnus Lofstrom and Laura Hill discuss their research examining the potential labor market outcomes and other possible economic effects of a legalization program.

This fact sheet examines the dramatic increase in U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services processing times for naturalization applications resulting from an overall increase in applications during fiscal year 2007.

The culminating report of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future seeks to design a new and simplified immigration regime that averts illegal immigration, and at the same time, harnesses the benefits of immigration for the future.

This policy brief explores the often neglected migration management potential of “regularization” or “legalization” programs, arguing that properly conceived and carefully executed “earned” regularization programs can not only prevent the number and flow of unauthorized migrants from building to unacceptable levels, but can also set the stage for smarter use of enforcement resources and improvements in labor market and social policy development.

The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was the first legislative attempt to comprehensively address the issue of unauthorized immigration. The bill included sanctions against employers for the hiring of undocumented migrants, more robust border enforcement, and an expansive legalization program that was unprecedented.

In the Spotlight

U.S., State, & County Profiles of Unauthorized Immigrants

Want the latest estimates and characteristics of unauthorized immigrants in the United States, including those potentially eligible for relief from deportation? Use this innovative data tool to get population estimates and much more—including countries of origin, recency of arrival, educational enrollment and attainment, industries of employment, incomes, English proficiency, and health care coverage—at the national level, by state, and for top counties.

MPI has compiled in one easy-to-access location its key research and data resources on issues, policies, enforcement programs, and more that relate to the immigration reform debate underway in Washington.